There is nothing about the way Tim Tebow throws the football that suggests he will ever be more than a novelty act in the NFL, a career understudy, unless he dramatically alters his mechanics.
So says a John Elway-confidant who has spoken with the Hall of Fame quarterback about Tebow’s time with the Broncos.
“I think there’s things you can fix,’’ said the source, who did not want his name attached to any Tebow-bashing.
Elway, the Broncos executive vice president of football operations, instigated the signing of Peyton Manning, a move that instantly ushered in the end of Tebow’s short-lived Rocky Mountain high. Elway threw the bait in the water and the Jets were hooked, giving up two draft picks and $2.5 million to acquire Tebow and all the hysteria that comes with him, saying they will make him the backup to Mark Sanchez.
Unless the requirements for the No. 2 quarterback include virtually no passing the Jets might be in trouble.
“I’ve talked to John Elway several times about him, I told him you got all these guys working with him but trust me, they’re on the wrong path,’’ the source, a former NFL coach, told The Post. “His biggest problem is he carries the ball too high, when he carries the ball high on the back shoulder he has a long release, which means when he cocks the ball and throws it that ball is moving a lot, which is not going to help his accuracy, it’s going to hurt it. Nobody’s corrected that in him.
“And he’s got a loose wrist, when he comes back with his wrist the ball is moving all over the place. You watch that ball, the nose is forward and then it’s sideways and then it’s up and it’s down, you can’t throw the ball that way. It’s correctable.’’
The awkward throwing motion is not the only issue with Tebow, who starred in college at Florida using his formidable athletic gifts and the superior talents of those around him.
“The guy is not the sharpest tool in the shed,’’ the source said. “He’s a great leader, 10 out of 10 as a leader, energy, work ethic, everything you want in a quarterback but he doesn’t see the field.
“It’s hard for him to go back and think a progression through: If this is the coverage go to this guy, if this is the coverage go to that guy. He doesn’t do that very well. That’s the difference with college football and pro football. It’s so much more sophisticated and he’s limited that way.’’
Used strictly for a handful of plays in the Wildcat offense, Tebow can excel — as long as the package of plays remains small and limited in scope.
“If you practice them all the time you can get good at ’em,’’ the source said. “Where you get the upper hand is the defense has played eight games and they haven’t seen the Wildcat yet. They’ve got to use a number of plays on their practice schedule that week to the Wildcat and they may see a lot of it and they may not see it at all. But this isn’t some offense that can’t be stopped.’’